PrintGL 1.40
(C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1990,1993
PrintGL/D - pen plotter emulator for IBM/DOS systems
PrintGL/W - pen plotter emulator for Windows systems
PrintCAD - printer driver for IBM/DOS CAD software
Ravitz Software Inc.
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA
BBS/FAX 606-268-0577
Compuserve Cary Ravitz [70431,32]
License
PrintGL (including PrintGL/D, PrintGL/W, and PrintCAD) is provided as
is. There are no warranties expressed or implied. PrintCAD is a
swapping resident program that may have problems with unusual
environments.
PrintGL is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. You may copy PrintGL
only for use under this license agreement.
PrintGL is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGL without
charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you
continue to use it after your evaluation, you MUST purchase a
registered copy ($50).
You may distribute each of the PrintGL packages as a stand alone
product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, clearly
label the disk as shareware, and do not charge more than $10. You may
not distribute PrintGL as part of another product or on the same disk
with any commercial software.
See License and Registration for more information.
ﾚﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄｿ
ｳ PrintGL 1.40 is a major change in PrintGL and its packaging. The ｳ
ｳ complete PrintGL package now includes the function of the old ｳ
ｳ PrintGL and PrintCAD plus a version of PrintGL for Windows.
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ PrintGL/D includes the function of the old PRINTGL.EXE and PMI.EXE ｳ
ｳ in one EXE file. PRINTGLD can be run from the command line but it ｳ
ｳ does not take default parameters from the PRINTGL environment ｳ
ｳ variable, and instead takes them from the menu configuration.
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ PrintGL/W is new. It is a Windows version of PrintGL/D and the ｳ
ｳ user interface is essentially identical PrintGL/D.
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ PrintCAD is a minor enhancement to the old PrintCAD.
ｳ
ﾀﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾙ
Contents
Introduction ....................................................... 3
License and Registration
5
What Is New ........................................................ 6
Installation
6
Operation .......................................................... 7
How To Get HP-GL Plotfiles From Your Graphics Software
9
Messages ........................................................... 9
User Interface
10
Example Setup Instructions For PrintCAD ........................... 11
Overview of Options
12
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Default Options ...... 12
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - PrintCAD Alternate Configurations
12
/A - Position Option .............................................. 13
/B - Tiling Option
13
/C - Pen Color Option ............................................. 13
/D - Output Destination Option
15
/F - Output Format Option ......................................... 15
/I - Scaling Point Location Option
18
/J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ...................... 18
/L - Page Layout Option
19
/M - Magnification Option (Scale, Size) ........................... 20
/N - Page Number Option
20
/O - Origin and Orientation Option ................................ 20
/P - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Plotfile Option
21
/P - PrintCAD Intercept Mask Option ............................... 21
/Q - Number of Copies Option
21
/R - Internal Resolution Option ................................... 21
/S - Pen Shading Option
22
/T - Temporary File Option ........................................ 22
/W - Pen Width Option
22
/X - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W User Interface Option ................ 23
/X - PrintCAD Control Option
23
/Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option ..................... 24
/Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option
24
PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Menu ...................................... 25
Menu Specific Functions
25
Menu Input and Output Choices ..................................... 26
Menu Plot Options
26
Menu Pen Options .................................................. 26
Menu Page Layout Options
27
Menu Other Options ................................................ 27
Large Paper
27
Tips On AutoCAD ................................................... 28
Answers
PrintCAD Answers ..................................................
Color Processing
Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes ....................................
Output Devices (Printers)
HP-GL and ADI Commands ............................................
Compatibility and Technical Information
User Support ......................................................
28
29
29
30
31
37
37
38
p-3
Introduction --------------------------------------------------------PrintGL is a shareware pen plotter emulator package for IBM/DOS and
Windows systems. It includes a DOS program that can be run from the
command line and BAT files or via menu (PrintGL/D), an equivalent
Windows program (PrintGL/W), and a resident DOS program that
intercepts plotter data as it is being written to file (PrintCAD).
PrintGL/D includes the functionality of the old PrintGL and PrintGL
Menu Interface programs.
The three programs are distributed as three different shareware
packages to minimize the size of each package and to retain the name
recognition of PrintCAD. This documentation file covers all three
programs and is identical in all three shareware packages.
PrintGL/D is a command line or menu driven program for IBM/DOS
systems. It prints or displays HP-GL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics
Language - 7475, 17440 subsets) or ADI (Autodesk Device Interface
4.0 vector plotter binary format) plotfiles on most PC graphics
devices. HP-GL is widely supported by CAD, drawing, plotting, and
other graphics programs including AutoCAD, Microstation, FastCAD,
Generic CADD, MathCAD, Schema, OrCAD, and SAS. PrintGL will print on
Epson and IBM 9 pin printers, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC, and Toshiba
24 pin printers, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, color DeskJet, PaintJet,
QuietJet, HP-GL/2 devices, and HP-GL plotters, HI JetPro printers,
IBM ExecJet, Quietwriter 2 and 3, LaserPrinter, and plotters, Canon
LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, Kodak Color 4, PDP ProTracer, Tektronix
ColorQuick, and PostScript printers. It will also display plots with
a CGA, EGA, VGA, VESA SVGA, or HGC, and output a ZSoft PCX bit map
file or an Encapsulated PostScript file with preview bit map.
PrintGL/W is a Windows version of PrintGL/D. It has the same
functionality and user interface. Screen output is limited to the
current Windows graphics mode.
PrintCAD is a resident pen plotter emulator that acts as a printer
driver for most IBM/DOS based CAD packages. It lets you print
drawings directly from CAD programs, via the CAD program's pen
plotter driver - either AutoCAD's ADI plotter driver or an HP-GL
driver. PrintCAD works with AutoCAD, AutoSketch, Microstation,
Cadkey, FastCAD, Generic CADD, Micro CADAM, Draft Choice,
PC-Draft-CAD, and other CAD programs. It will print on the same
printers noted above but does not do screen output or generate
PostScript preview bit maps. PrintCAD is set up via command line (or
BAT file). There is no menu assistance to help you set it up.
PrintCAD is a swapping resident program that uses 5K of base memory
and 400K of EMS or XMS memory. Either 400K of EMS or XMS memory is
required and a VCPI handler is recommended.
p-4
Even if your graphics program supports your printer, you will
probably find that PrintGL is faster, gives better print quality,
and/or gives more formatting flexibility. PrintGL uses the best
graphics modes available for each printer that it supports and uses
transfer data compression to improve print speed on many printers.
And it gives options such as orientation, magnification, position,
and pen width, color, and shading. If you need printed graphics
output from personal software, you can output HP-GL and use PrintGL
to do the printing. This gives immediate support to a wide range of
printers. And it lets you use the HP 17440 command set while still
supporting lower function plotters.
PrintGL interprets all of the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 (ColorPro with
GEC) command set that is applicable to plotfiles except for
character set 8 (Katakana). None of the digitize, output, or device
control commands (except plotter on and off) are supported as these
are only used with direct control of a plotter. And the error mask
command is not supported. In addition to the HP 7475 and 7440/17440
commands, PrintGL handles paper feed, label origin, extra space, and
enhanced clipping window commands and proportional fonts and line
types 7 and 8.
This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware
principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help
you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not
provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the
ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a
CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
p-5
License and Registration --------------------------------------------PrintGL (including PrintGL/D, PrintGL/W, and PrintCAD) is provided
as is. There are no warranties expressed or implied. PrintCAD is a
swapping resident program that may have problems with unusual
environments.
PrintGL is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. You may copy PrintGL
only for use under this license agreement.
PrintGL is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGL without
charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you
continue to use it after your evaluation, you MUST purchase a
registered copy for $50. This registration covers use of PrintGL/D,
PrintGL/W, and PrintCAD by a single person (on multiple computers)
or installation on a single computer (may be used by a group of
people). There is no cost to use a later 1.** version after
registering any 1.** version.
You may distribute each of the PrintGL packages as a stand alone
product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, clearly
label the disk as shareware, and do not charge more than $10. You
may not distribute PrintGL as part of another product or on the same
disk with any commercial software.
To purchase a registered copy of PrintGL, send your name, address,
and $50 check to:
Ravitz Software Inc.
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA
You will be sent a printed manual and disk (always the latest
version). Specify 3.5 or 5.25 inch disk. If you previously
registered PrintGL or PrintCAD, you may send $15 to get a current
disk and manual.
The price for multiple licenses is $50 for the first copy (with disk
and manual) and thereafter $40 per copy with disk and manual or $25
per copy without disk or manual.
It is preferred that the check be drawn on a bank in the US, Canada,
England, France, or Switzerland, and be payable in US Dollars. If
the check is drawn on a bank from any other country, please make it
payable in the currency of that country with the amount calculated
at the current exchange rate.
PrintGL Printer Driver is the graphics engine used in these
programs. It may be licensed for use in commercial programs. Send a
note to request more information on this.
p-6
What Is New ---------------------------------------------------------For version 1.40:
PrintGL/W is new.
/F# supports the JRL J bubblejet printer.
/FV^ supports VESA SVGA 1280x1024 displays.
M is the pen width character for .1 mm.
HP-GL line types 7 and 8 are supported.
Menu mouse and screen color handling are completely new.
For version 1.30:
/F@ supports the Canon BJC880
/F& supports the Canon BJC800, BJ200 native mode
/F4+ supports the IBM LaserPrinter with 600 dpi PPDS upgrade
/FD+ supports the Canon LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi
/FU has been dropped. /FL! now gives the same output.
Interprets Autodesk ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands (/YA)
For version 1.28:
multiple file output (see /D option)
supports the LaserJet 4 at 600 dpi
supports the DeskJet 550C and PaintJet XL300
pen widths can be up to 24 dots
Ctrl-B (instead of ctrl-break) stops processing immediately
The latest version of PrintGL is available from the support bulletin
board at 606-268-0577 (1200..9600,N,8,1 24 hours/day, XMODEM or
YMODEM (1K XMODEM) download), packed in .ZIP format.
Installation --------------------------------------------------------Copy the files PRINTGLD.EXE, PRINTGLW.EXE, and PRINTCAD.EXE to your
working disk or directory. Each of these executable files is stand
alone, so you need to copy only the ones that you will be using. It
is preferable to use a directory that is in your DOS PATH.
In addition to the
package.
PRINTGL.DOC
ADD.DOC
SAMPLE.PLT
ORDER.FRM
README.*
HPGL.DOC
above files, these files are included in the
documentation
additional documentation since last release
sample plotfile
order form
quick information
HP-GL reference
HPGL.CHR
HP-GL character set plotfile
To install PrintGL/W as an icon in the Windows Program Manager,
select File, then New, then program item to bring up the Program
Item Properties menu. Enter the item name - PrintGL/W, the command
line - \path\PRINTGLW, and the working directory - wherever you keep
your plotfiles. You can choose from three icons designed for two,
sixteen, and 32K color setups.
p-7
Operation -----------------------------------------------------------PrintGL reads a plotfile, does arc, character, fill, etc. to line
conversion, stores the data in a coordinate list, and if needed,
puts the list on disk. It then reorients the data and determines the
plot size. Next the data is resized and relocated. For vector output
formats (HP-GL, PostScript) data is output from here. For bit mapped
devices (most printers, displays, bit maps) the coordinate list is
rasterized and output in swaths. You are likely to see the printer
print a swath and stop while PrintGL is processing the next swath.
Esc stops PrintGL at the next good break point, leaving the printer
ready for new data. Ctrl-B stops PrintGL as quickly as possible. You
generally need to do a printer reset after a Ctrl-B.
When you display a plot, press Enter or Esc to return to the DOS
text screen, or any of the four cursor movement keys to scroll
across the plot. Press S to cycle between full, half (the default),
quarter, and eighth page scrolling.
PrintGL works within a printer's current margins and starts at the
current vertical print position. If you decline the form feed
suboption of the /L option then PrintGL leaves the printer at the
start of the line directly below the plot. All printing is done in
printer lines that cover the full height of the printhead.
PrintGL will not automatically change a printer's operating mode. On
multimode printers, the right operating mode must be set before
running PrintGL or with the prefix code (/J) option.
Internally PrintGL uses two byte coordinates on a 1016 dots/inch
grid. This allows for plots with coordinates of over 30 inches - far
larger than an HP 7475 can handle. However, if you are using PrintGL
to emulate a large plotter, you may overflow the internal coordinate
system. This condition is not checked, and it will cause garbage
output. You can change the internal resolution to 508 dots per inch
(giving 60 inch maximum plot sizes) with the /R option (/R508). This
only helps store the original plot internally. The next step in
PrintGL converts these coordinates to the requested size in the
resolution of the output device, and these coordinates must also fit
in the two byte coordinate list.
PrintCAD is a resident program that intercepts plot data output from
CAD software, processes the data, and prints the resulting picture.
When PrintCAD is first run it installs itself. Subsequent runs look
for the resident copy and send control information to it, updating
the parameters.
PrintCAD must be installed before running the CAD software. Do not
install it from a DOS shell. PrintCAD automatically loads high if a
5K DOS or XMS upper memory block is available. Do not use LOADHI or
LOADHIGH.
PrintCAD can intercept data from two sources, DOS file writes and
AutoCAD/Sketch ADI 4.0 interrupts. With the option /PADI, ADI
interrupts are intercepted. With /Pmask, for example /P*.PLT, DOS
file writes are intercepted.
p-8
PrintCAD can interpret two kinds of data, HP-GL and AutoCAD/Sketch
ADI 4.0 binary plotter data. HP-GL data is always interpreted. If
you use the /PADI or /YA options then ADI plotter data is also
interpreted. PrintCAD can only interpret plotter data - it cannot
function as a ADI printer/plotter or as a rendering driver.
To use PrintCAD as an HP-GL interpreter, use /Pmask to tell it what
files to intercept. Use /P*.PLT, /P*.DPF, /P*.HPG, /P*.000, etc. to
match the names that the CAD software uses when writing HP-GL files.
Configure the CAD software for HP-GL (HP 7550 or 7585) output to a
file. Then plot (do NOT print). PrintCAD intercepts the data and
prints it.
To use PrintCAD with AutoCAD or AutoSketch as an ADI interpreter
that intercepts ADI binary files use /P*.PLT. Configure AutoCAD for
an ADI 4.0 plotter, binary data output to a file, up to forty pens,
1016 steps/inch, and eight non-solid line types. Then plot.
To use PrintCAD with AutoCAD or AutoSketch as an installed ADI 4.0
plotter driver use /PADI. After installing PrintCAD configure
AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 plotter, installed at interrupt hex 78, up to
forty pens, 1016 steps/inch, and eight non-solid line types. Then
plot.
After making PrintCAD resident, you can verify the installation with
"printcad /xq". You can verify that it is functional by copying
SAMPLE.PLT (or ADI if you use /YA) to "printcad.plt" with the DOS
COPY command.
For COLOR output, the CAD package should be configured for a plotter
with multiple pens, the CAD package's pen assignment table should be
set up match screen colors to pen numbers, and PrintCAD's /C option
should set up to match.
PrintCAD causes a high/low beep the first time that data is sent
after a file open. If you turn on sound (/XS), it causes a high beep
after swapping in its code and a low beep before swapping it out, to
let you monitor its processing.
p-9
How To Get HP-GL Plotfiles From Your Graphics Software --------------To use PrintGL you must be able to output HP-GL plotfiles or ADI
binary plotfiles from your graphics application. Most CAD, drawing,
and graphing software lets you do this. Just tell the application to
output your picture to a plotter. In either the configuration
process or the output process, you will need to specify that you
have an HP 7475 or HP 7440/17440 plotter and that you want the
output to go to a file instead of a COM port (some programs name the
file automatically and some ask you for a name). You might need to
set up a pen assignment table that specifies what color each pen is.
Once you have the file, you can print it with PrintGL/D, either from
a DOS shell or after exiting the application. With PrintGL/W you can
run with exiting the application. With PrintCAD the file is
intercepted and printed instead of being written to disk.
Messages ------------------------------------------------------------PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W display a number of messages to keep you
informed of what they are doing. The output looks like this.
Reading SAMPLE.PLT
Plotfile has 1 page(s)
Processing page 1
2283 data records
Overall magnification
0.9964
Print window
Horizontal 0.00 7.54
Vertical 0.00 10.14
Plot area
Horizontal 0.42 7.13
Vertical 0.61 9.54
Output format /FT HxV dpi 180x180 corrected to 180x180 color
Writing to device LPT3
The first line is the plotfile that is currently being processed.
The second line tells how many pages are in the plotfile, which page
is being processed, and the number of data points in that page. The
number of data points is roughly equivalent to the number of pen
moves and is shown to give you an indication of the plot's
complexity.
The overall magnification is either the magnification that you
specified with the /M option or the effective magnification after
fitting to the print window with /MF. The print window line gives
the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the print window, always
starting at 0,0 and in inches. The plot area gives the horizontal
and vertical coordinates of a box that just covers the plotted data.
This uses the same coordinate system as the print window, so you can
tell where the plot is relative to the print window.
The output format and resolution are given and then the output
destination is noted (except for screen plots). If three or four
plane color is being used, the word "color" is displayed. If you
have a black only printer, but the output format allows color (this
is common with 9 and 24 pin printers), using color will greatly
increase the PrintGL run time with no improvement in print quality.
During processing, PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W inform you when they are
processing and writing data, and you can watch the progress from 0%
to 100%, along with the elapsed time.
After initial startup PrintCAD runs without screen output.
p-10
User Interface ------------------------------------------------------PrintGL can be run from the command line (DOS or Windows) using
various options to tell it what to do. PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W can
be started with no options to bring up a menu system. The menu
options have corresponding command line options, so the two forms of
options will be described together. The menu options are noted by
the menu name in quotes followed by the menu choice in quotes, for
example "plot page" "all pages".
From the command line, the calling syntax is:
PRINTGLD plotfile /option1 /option2 ...
PRINTGLW plotfile /option1 /option2 ...
PRINTCAD /option1 /option2 ...
Spaces between parameters are not required. The plotfile may be
specified with the /P option if it is inconvenient to make it the
first parameter.
Except for the /X and /P options in PrintCAD, if a given option is
entered more than once, only the last entry is used. And if an
option is invalid (but not incorrect), it is ignored. Only one /X
and one /P option is allowed in PrintCAD.
When run from the command line, PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W use the
current menu options as the default, so if you have the menu set up
as desired, you can run PRINTGLD plotfile from the command line and
avoid going through the menu to select the plotfile.
The DOS environment variables PRINTCAD, PRINTCAD2, PRINTCAD3, and
PRINTCAD4 are read by PrintCAD and put in front of the command line
parameters. When you need to exceed the 127 character DOS command
line limit, put some of the parameters in the PRINTCAD variable, for
example
SET PRINTCAD=/CRGB... /S... /W...
PRINTCAD /P*.PLT ...
SET PRINTCAD=
Below, [ and ] enclose optional suboptions and | separates mutually
exclusive suboptions. The options and suboptions may be in any order
except that multiple numeric suboptions are ordered and numeric
suboptions must follow character suboptions where the characters may
be digits. "c" refers to a suboption character, "x" and "y" to
suboption numbers, "i" and "j" to suboption integers, "b" to a
suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device name.
For numbers (x, y), a decimal point is allowed but is not required,
and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but not "+".
For integer input (i, j), only base ten integers from -32768 to
32767 are allowed. "+" is not allowed. A byte (b) must be a base ten
integer from 0 to 255 or a hexadecimal number prefixed with $ from
$00 to $FF. Further range checking is done for most options to flag
unreasonable input. If an option has multiple numeric suboptions,
these may be separated with commas or blanks.
p-11
Example Setup Instructions For PrintCAD -----------------------------Below are instructions for simple setups to help you get started
with PrintCAD. After you have PrintCAD running, there are many
additional options that might be useful.
To use AutoCAD (or AutoSketch) with an HP DeskJet 500C or 550C,
install PrintCAD with "printcad /padi /fa! /L7.9,10,0,.3 /crygcbmk".
Configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 vector plotter installed on
interrupt 78h, 7 pens, 1016 steps/inch, plot area 10x7.9, no
calibration. Set up the AutoCAD pen assignment table so that the
seven pens are assigned red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and
black. Set skip perforation off on the printer by setting DIP switch
1-8 up. Then plot.
To use a Canon BJC800 or 820 with 11x17 paper with AutoCAD, install
PrintCAD with "printcad /p*.plt /ya /f& /L10.5,16,0,0 /crygcbmk".
Configure AutoCAD for an ADI 4.0 vector plotter with binary output
to a file, 7 pens, 1016 steps/inch, plot area 16x10.5, no
calibration. Set up the AutoCAD pen assignment table so that the
seven pens are assigned red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and
black. Then plot.
To use a Canon BJ330 with cut sheet paper with AutoCAD, install
PrintCAD with:
printcad /f7 1,1.01 /L8,10,0,.4 /j27,67,0,11
printcad /2/f7 1,1.01 /L10.5,16,0,.4 /j27,67,0,17
printcad /3/f7 1,1.01 /L13.5,21,0,.4 /j27,67,0,22
Configure AutoCAD for an HP 7585 plotter with output to a file. To
print on 8.5x11 paper set the plot area to 10x8 and output the plot
to file PCAD1. For 11x17 paper set the plot area to 16x10.5 and
output to PCAD2. For 17x22 paper set the plot area to 21x13.5 and
output to PCAD3.
To use the BJ330 with another CAD package, replace the ".plt" with
the default
plotfile extension for that package. AutoCAD,
AutoSketch, and Micro CADAM use ".plt", Microstation uses ".000",
GenCADD uses ".dpf", and EasyCAD and FastCAD uses ".hpg". DesignCAD
has no default extension - use ".plt" and enter the entire file name
when plotting (PCAD1.PLT for example).
To use a LaserJet with Microstation, install PrintCAD with "printcad
/p*.000 /fL /L7.9,10,0,.1". Configure Microstation for an HP 7585
plotter, set the plot area to 10x7.9, and plot. Instead of /fL,
choose the best LaserJet driver from this list:
/FL
/FL!
/FI
/FI+
any
any
any
any
LJ
LJ2 and any LJ3 with less than 1.5 Meg
LJ3 with 1.5 Meg or more and the LJ4L
600 dpi LJ4
For manual feed legal paper use "/p*.000 /fL /L7.9,13,0,.1
/J27,38,108,50,72,27,38,108,51,65" and set the plot area to 13x7.9.
p-12
Overview of Options -------------------------------------------------PrintGL's options fall into several categories. The first is input
and output choices. The input is chosen with /P, the plotfile, and
/N, the page number. Output options are /F, the output format
(printer model), and /D, the destination port, device, or file.
The second category is the page layout. /L controls the size and
location of the print window (hard clip limits), and the option to
box the window, not send a form feed, and reverse the image color.
Tiling is set with /B and copies with /Q.
The third category defines how the plot looks within the print
window. /M, the magnification, sets the size of the plot. /A
determines the location of the plot within the print window. /O sets
the origin and orientation, and is used to rotate or mirror the
plot. /I sets the plotter's initial scaling points.
The fourth category defines the pens, /W for the width, /C for the
color, and /S for the shade.
The fifth category determines how PrintGL processes the plot. This
includes the temporary file /T, the default and minimum chord angle
/Z, the plotter Y/D and S/E switch positions and ADI handling /Y,
the internal resolution /R, user interface options /X, and /J and /K
let you set up and reset the printer for special situations.
PrintCAD has separate setup options, /P sets the intercept mask, /X
sets up the initial configuration, /1, /2, /3, /4, and /5 set up
multiple configurations.
And PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W use /1, /2, /3, /4, and /5 to choose one
of the menu setups as the command line default.
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Default Options --------These option select a configuration from the menu to be used as the
default. This option must match the first character of the title of
one of the five menu configurations.
/1, /2, /3, /4, /5 - PrintCAD Alternate Configurations --------------These options select up to 5 alternate configurations, labeled 1..5.
/1 is the default. The configuration used for printing is chosen
based on the file name and mask (/P option).
p-13
/A - Position Option ------------------------------------------------/A[O][x,y] - position - default /A
"position"
The A option determines the location of the plot in the print window
via a point on the plot that is aligned with a point in the print
window. You can specify the plot alignment point with x,y in inches
from the plot's origin (before PrintGL applies magnification), or
let it default to the plot center. For the print window alignment
point, you can default to the center or specify the origin with O.
/A
puts the center of the plot at the center of the print
/AO0,0 puts the plot 0,0 at the print window origin
/B - Tiling Option --------------------------------------------------/B[i,j,x] - tiling parameters - default /B1,1,0
"tiling"
/B lets you specify tiling options that break a large plot into
tiles. Each tile is defined by the page layout option (/L). I and j
specify the number of tiles horizontally and vertically. X specifies
the overlap in inches. Displayed plots are sized based on the
tiling, but only the first tile is displayed. Use the cursor keys to
scroll the plot.
/B2,2,.5
/B
breaks the plot into 4 pages with .5 inch overlap
is the same as /B1,1,0 and produces no tiling
/C - Pen Color Option -----------------------------------------------/C[O|T]c.. - color - default /COK
"pen color"
"pen mode"
"pen all"
/C specifies the color of each of 40 pens. The colors are B for
blue, C for cyan, G for green, K for black, M for magenta, R for
red, W for white, and Y for yellow. Unspecified pens use the last
selected color (/CRGB is the same as /CRGBBBBBB). For black/white
output formats, all nonwhite colors become black.
p-14
Additional colors can be created with shade mixing. These colors use
shading patterns to mix the eight pure colors. The format for a
mixed color is .?? where each ? represents any of the eight pure
colors. The first color is printed with the pen's shading pattern
(/S option) and the second is printed with the inverse shading
pattern. If the shade value is 0 (solid) it is replaced by 2 (50%)
which produces the most uniform mixed colors. On many printers,
using a shade of 1 (75%) or 3 (25%) gives a better color. Here are
some useful mixed colors for inkjet printers.
color
.bc
.bm
.gc
.gy
shade
3 (25%)
3 (25%)
3 (25%)
3 (25%)
description
azure
violet
jade
lime
color
.ry
.rk
.ck
.rk
shade
3 (25%)
1 (75%)
1 (75%)
3 (25%)
description
orange
brown
teal
black on DeskJet 500C
Mixed colors need line widths of at least 2 (4 for coarse shading
patterns) to look good, and they may have visual artifacts on edges
near a 45 degree angle. Multipass dot matrix formats may not handle
color mixing well.
The following single letter options may be used in place of the
color mixing notation.
color
a
v
j
l
s
n
equivalent
mixed color
.bc
.bm
.gc
.gy
.rm
.ry
description
Azure
Violet
Jade
Lime
roSe
oraNge
color
i
e
f
p
d
h
equivalent
mixed color
.bk
.ck
.gk
.mk
.rk
.yk
description
dark blue
tEal
Forest
Purple
dark red
dark yellow
By default, colors are overwritten into the print, so they appear
opaque. You can switch to translucent colors (ored into the print)
with the T suboption, and then back to opaque with the O suboption.
Make this mode switch in front of the pen that you want to change.
For PostScript devices and plotters, the color processing is done by
the device, not PrintGL. PostScript devices use opaque colors and
plotters use translucent colors.
" means repeat the previous color.
/COKR.MB""T.KY
sets pen 1
pen 2
to opaque black
to opaque red
pen 3..5 to opaque magenta on blue
pen 6..40 to translucent black on yellow
p-15
/D - Output Destination Option --------------------------------------/D[+]f - destination - default /D1
"destination"
The D option specifies the output printer port, device, or file. The
+ suboption causes files to be appended rather than overwritten (it
has no effect on device output). 1, 2, and 3 select the BIOS printer
routines. X1, X2, X3, and X4 select xon/xoff controlled serial port
drive. H1, H2, H3, and H4 select hardware controlled serial port
drive. You can also use the DOS devices LPT1, COM1, etc. /D is
ignored for display output.
For PrintGL/W, specify W to send data to the Windows print manager.
PrintGL cannot set up the serial ports. This is usually done in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P).
If you specify a three digit number for a file name extension (for
example .000), and multiple pages are output via the multiple copies
option, tiling, or multiple HP-GL pages then, rather than appending
the destination file, additional files are created with sequential
extensions. This is useful for PCX and EPS output.
/D2
/DLPT3
/D+TEMP.PRN
/DOUTPUT.000
sends output to the second parallel port via BIOS
sends output to the DOS device LPT3
appends output to file TEMP.PRN
sends output to OUTPUT.000, OUTPUT.001, ...
/F - Output Format Option -------------------------------------------/Fc[-|+|*|^][!|ｭ][~|`][x,y] - output format - default /FN~
"output format"
"modify output" "h,v size multiplier: "
"modify output" "compression mode: "
The F option specifies the output format. -, +, *, and ^ are
resolution modifiers, ! and ｭ select compression levels, ~ turns off
color processing, and ` switches four plane color processing on or
off. These suboptions are allowed even if they have no effect.
For 800x600 VGA (/FV+) you can append the display mode number. This
must follow the format character. It may be entered in hex with a $
prefix. For HP-GL (/F8), HP-GL/2 (/F0), PostScript (/FS), PCX (/FZ),
and PS preview (/FY) you can append the nominal device resolution.
Matching the
nominal resolution to the printer may yield
improvements in print quality. For PCX and PS preview the nominal
device resolution may be one or two numbers.
p-16
For output formats other than bit maps, you can append the true
horizontal and vertical resolution of the output device in
dots/inch. This overrides the normal output device resolution, but
does not affect the structure of the output. These numbers should
follow all other suboptions. This lets you compensate for print size
error. For example, a 360x360 dpi printer consistently under indexes
so that a 6 inch high box comes out 5.94 inches. Using 360,363.6
(6/5.94*360 = 363.6) removes the error. For print size correction,
you also specify a number from .5 to 2 which is interpreted as the
nominal resolution times this number. For example on a 360 dpi
printer, 1.0,1.01 is the same as 360,363.6.
Each printer driver has a default level of data compression, chosen
to give maximum compatibility among the different printers that the
driver supports. Many drivers have an optional enhanced level of
compression, chosen with !. This will be incompatible with some
printers. And some drivers let you turn all compression off with ｭ
(ASCII 173). This is rarely of any use. Where these suboptions are
effective, they are marked in the table below.
PrintCAD cannot use any of the display drivers or the EPS preview
bit map driver. PrintGL/W cannot use any of the display drivers
except the VGA drivers.
Drivers marked below with ~ can handle color. Using ~ suppresses
color processing, substituting black for all colors except white. `
switches between 4 and 3 plane color (see Color Processing).
/F0[i]
/F1
/F1+
/F1*
/F2
/F3
/F4/F4
/F4+
/F5
/F5+
/F5*
/F6
/F6+
/F6*
/F7
/F7+
~
~
~
~
!ｭ
!ｭ
!ｭ
! ~
! ~
! ~
!
!
!
ｭ
ｭ
HP-GL/2 ................................ 600x600, ixi
IBM 9 pin
120x72
IBM 9 pin (2 pass) .......................... 120x144
IBM 9 pin (4 pass)
240x144
IBM Quietwriter 2 ........................... 240x240
IBM Quietwriter 3
240x240
IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 150x150
IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode)
300x300
IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 600x600
IBM 24 pin alternate 1
180x180
IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (2 pass) ............. 360x180
IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (4 pass)
360x360
IBM Proprinter X24 .......................... 180x182
IBM Proprinter X24 (2 pass)
360x182
IBM Proprinter X24 (4 pass) ................. 360x364
Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet
360x360
Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet (2 pass) ..... 360x360
/F8[i]
/F9
/F9+
/F9*
/F#
/F&
/F@
/FA/FA
/FB
/FB+
! ~
! ~
! ~
ｭ
~
~
! ~
! ~
ｭ~
ｭ~
HP-GL
1016x1016, ixi
NEC 24 pin .................................. 180x180
NEC 24 pin (2 pass)
360x180
NEC 24 pin (4 pass) ......................... 360x360
JRL J bubblejet Epson mode
360x360
Canon BJ/BJC native mode .................... 360x360
Canon BJC CaPSL mode
360x360
HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C ..... 150x150
HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C
300x300
Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode ..................... 360x360
Canon BJ/BJC Epson mode (line overlap)
360x360
/FC
/FD/FD
/FD+
/FE
/FF
/FF+
/FF*
/FG
/FH
/FI/FI
/FI+
/FJ
/FK
/FL/FL
/FM
/FN
/FN+
/FN*
/FO
/FO+
/FO*
/FP
/FQ
/FR
/FS[i]
/FT
/FT+
/FT*
/FV
/FV+
/FV+b
/FV*
/FV^
/FW
/FW+
/FW*
/FX
/FX+
/FX*
/FY[i[,j]]
/FZ[i[,j]]
!ｭ
!ｭ
!ｭ
~
! ~
! ~
! ~
ｭ
~
!ｭ
!ｭ
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
p-17
CGA display ................................... 62x25
Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode)
150x150
Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) .................. 300x300
Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode)
600x600
128K EGA color display ........................ 62x45
Fujitsu 24 pin
180x180
Fujitsu 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180
Fujitsu 24 pin (4 pass)
360x360
PDP Protracer (IBM mode) .................... 360x360
Hercules graphics card display
70x45
HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet ...................... 150x150
HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet
300x300
HP LaserJet 4 ............................... 600x600
Canon BJ BJ130 mode
360x360
Kodak Diconix Color 4 ....................... 192x192
HP LaserJet
150x150
HP LaserJet ................................. 300x300
128K EGA monochrome display
62x45
Epson 9 pin .................................. 120x72
Epson 9 pin (3 pass)
120x216
Epson 9 pin (6 pass) ........................ 240x216
Toshiba 24 pin
180x180
Toshiba 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180
Toshiba 24 pin (4 pass)
360x360
HP PaintJet
...................... 180x180
HP QuietJet (PCL mode)
192x192
Tektronix ColorQuick ........................ 216x216
PostScript
600x600, ixi
Epson 24 pin ................................ 180x180
Epson 24 pin (2 pass)
360x180
Epson 24 pin (4 pass) ....................... 360x360
VGA display
62x62
VESA 800x600 VGA display ...................... 78x78
800x600 VGA display - mode b
78x78
VESA 1024x768 VGA display ................... 100x100
VESA 1280x1024 VGA display
125x134
Epson 9 pin alternate ........................ 120x72
Epson 9 pin alternate (3 pass)
120x216
Epson 9 pin alternate (6 pass) .............. 240x216
IBM 24 pin alternate 2
180x180
IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (2 pass) ............. 360x180
IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (4 pass)
360x360
append EPS preview bit map .......... 72x72, ixi, ixj
ZSoft PCX
100x100, ixi, ixj
p-18
/I - Scaling Point Location Option ----------------------------------/IA|R|W[N] - IP point location - default /IA
"scaling pnts"
This option is not useful with AutoCAD or any software that outputs
HP-GL that does not use scaling commands or that initializes the
plotter or sets the scaling points.
The I option sets the initial scaling points (P1, P2 - the scaling
points may be set in the HP-GL file with the IP command). A
(absolute) sets the points to the default for the paper size (see
below). R fits P1 and P2 to the print window with at least .25 inch
margins and an x/y ratio of 10/7.2 (the same ratio as the HP 7475
with small paper). W fits P1 and P2 to the print window with a .25
inch margin. N makes the margin 0 for R or W and is ignored with A.
The default scaling points depend on the print window (/L option)
with the implied paper size and the plot orientation (/O option).
/O3 and /O4 gives the same default scaling points as /O1 and /O2.
paper
7440 A
7440 A4
7475 A4
7475 A4
7475 B
7475 A3
7440 A
7440 A4
7475 A
7475 A4
7475 B
7475 A3
anything
/IWN
options
/O1 /L 7.54,10.14
/O1 /L 7.54,10.74
/O1 /L 7.84,10.20
/O1 /L 7.60,10.88
/O1 /L10.20,16.38
/O1 /L10.88,15.90
/O2 /L10.14, 7.54
/O2 /L10.74, 7.54
/O2 /L10.20, 7.84
/O2 /L10.88, 7.60
/O2 /L16.38,10.20
/O2 /L15.90,10.88
else
default
250,279
250,279
250,596
603,521
522,259
170,602
250,279
250,279
250,596
603,521
522,259
170,602
250,279
scaling pts
10250, 7479
10250, 7479
10250, 7796
10603, 7721
15722,10259
15370,10602
10250, 7479
10250, 7479
10250, 7796
10603, 7721
15722,10259
15370,10602
10250, 7479
with RO90 command
279,250 7479,10250
279,250 7479,10250
154,244 7354,10244
0,610 7200,10610
283,934 10283,16134
607,797 10607,15997
279,250 7479,10250
279,250 7479,10250
154,244 7354,10244
0,610 7200,10610
283,934 10283,16134
607,797 10607,15997
279,250 7479,10250
sets the scaling points to fit the print window
/J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ------------------------/J[b,b,..] - printer code prefix - default /J
/K[b,b,..] - printer code suffix - default /K
"modify output" "prefix codes: "
"modify output" "suffix codes: "
/J lets you send codes to the printer before PrintGL's usual data is
sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintGL's usual data is sent.
This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations.
For HP-GL and PostScript output, the /J codes follow the
initialization commands.
The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF)
separated with blanks or commas.
/J27 69 does a printer reset before printing on HP-PCL printers
p-19
/L - Page Layout Option ---------------------------------------------/L[B][F|N][R][x,y[,x,y]] - page layout - default depends on printer
"window/margins"
"form feed"
"box"
"reverse image"
The L option defines the page layout.
B boxes the plot at the print window edge using pen 40.
F (the default) and N turn form feed on or off. These are ignored
for bit maps and display output.
R reverses the colors on displays, bit maps, and output formats 4,
D, I, and L (Canon, HP, and IBM page printers) and is otherwise
ignored. This gives the equivalent of a photographic negative.
The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in
inches. These define the hard clip limits. These values are not
checked against the printer's capabilities. If you specify a print
window that exceeds the output device limits, the results are
unknown. You may need to reset the printer's margins or page length
for large plots (see Large Paper). The size needed for a given width
and height exceeds x and y by 8 dots to allow for line widths.
The second optional x and y are the left and top margins, measured
from the printer's left margin and current vertical position to the
print window. The margins for HP-GL and PostScript are measured from
0,0 (left, bottom). Margins are ignored for display output and bit
maps.
THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS THE MARGINS MUST FIT WITHIN THE PRINTABLE AREA
OF THE PRINTER. To find the largest printable area turn on the box
and form feed options and set a window and margins of 7.5,10,0,0.
Any plotfile will do - the only concern is the box. Increase the
window until you have the largest box that fits on the paper. This
is the best that you can do. To improve centering you can reduce the
print window and increase the corresponding margin.
The default print window is 7.54x10.14 for printers and bit maps and
10.14x7.54 for HP-GL and displays, corresponding to HP 7440 A paper.
The default margins are printer specific to compensate for paper
handling.
/L7.5,3,.5,0
/L7.54,10.14
/L7.54,10.74
/L7.84,10.20
/L7.60,10.88
/L10.20,16.38
/L10.88,15.90
print window 7.5x3, left margin .5, top margin 0
sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A paper
sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A4 paper
sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A paper
sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A4 paper
sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with B paper
sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A3 paper
p-20
/M - Magnification Option (Scale, Size) -----------------------------/M[F]x - magnification - default /MF.9
"magnification"
The M option sets the magnification. F fits the plot to the print
window. The default, /MF.9, prints at 90% of the largest size that
fits in the print window.
/MF.9 prints at 90% the largest size that fits in the print window
/M1
plots at the same size as an HP 7475
/N - Page Number Option ---------------------------------------------/N[i] - page number - default /N
"plot page"
/Ni says to print only page i of the plotfile. If you do not specify
i then all pages in the plot will be printed (this is the default).
This option is not allowed with PrintCAD.
/N prints all pages in the plotfile
/N3 prints only page 3
/O - Origin and Orientation Option ----------------------------------/O[1|2|3|4[L]] - origin, orientation - default /O
"origin/rotate"
The O option sets the print window origin and orientation. The
origin is one of four corners numbered 1..4 for upper left, lower
left, lower right, and upper right, and implies a plot rotation. The
L suboption specifies a left handed coordinate system, which mirrors
the plot. If no origin is specified then it is chosen so that the x
axis is the longer dimension.
Here are pictures of PrintGL's view of the output media compared to
an HP 7475's view.
HP 7475
PrintGL
display or
A size
B size
printer
plotter
y ﾚﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄｿ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
0,0 ﾀﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾙ x
0,0 ﾚﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄｿ y
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
x ﾀﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾙ
ul ﾚﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄｿ ur ul ﾚﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄｿ ur
1 ｳ
ｳ4
1 ｳ
ｳ4
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ｳ
ll ﾀﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾙ lr
ｳ
ｳ
2
3
ll ﾀﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾙ lr
2
3
/O2 puts the print window's origin in the lower left corner
p-21
/P - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Plotfile Option ------------------------/Pf - plotfile - no default
"plotfile"
The plotfile may be specified as
or it may be specified anywhere
use a file name mask with "*"
processed, but the first failure
the first parameter with no prefix,
in the option list with /P. If you
and/or "?", each matching file is
or user break stops all processing.
/P - PrintCAD Intercept Mask Option ---------------------------------/PADI|mask - intercept mask
/PADI sets up PrintCAD as an AutoCAD ADI plotter driver. /Pmask lets
you choose a DOS file mask as PrintCAD's intercept mask. The mask
should not include disk or directory information - PrintCAD ignores
this information when looking at file names. The mask may contain
the character #. This is the same as ?, but when a file matches the
mask the character that matches the # selects the PrintCAD
configuration - 1..5 selects configurations 1..5 and anything else
selects configuration 1.
Regardless of the /P option, PrintCAD always responds to PCAD#.PLT.
/Padi
/P*.plt
/Px#.plt
sets up PrintCAD to take data from AutoCAD interrupt 78
intercepts data written to *.plt
intercepts data written to x1.plt, x2.plt, etc.
/Q - Number of Copies Option ----------------------------------------/Qi - number of copies - default /Q1
"copies"
/Q sets the number of copies of each printed page. The default is
one. Page printers produce multiple copies faster using the "N
copies" prefix code (see Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes).
/R - Internal Resolution Option -------------------------------------/Ri - internal resolution - default /R1016
"other" "internal dpi: "
/R sets the internal grid resolution in dots/inch. It is normally
1016 and rarely needs to be changed. To fit very large plots into
the -32768..32767 coordinate limit, use /R508. Setting the
resolution to a multiple of the output device resolution times the
magnification may yield a small improvement in print quality.
p-22
/S - Pen Shading Option ---------------------------------------------/Sc.. - pen shading patterns - default /S0
"pen shade"
"pen all"
/S assigns a shading pattern to each pen. Unspecified pens use the
last specified shade. The shade values are 0..8 and A..F. The
percent coverage for each shade is listed below. Narrow line widths
may not work well with some shade patterns.
0 100%
1
2
3
4
75%
50%
25%
12.5%
5
6
7
8
75%
50%
25%
12.5%
coarse
coarse
coarse
coarse
pattern
pattern
pattern
pattern
A 6.2%
B 3.1%
C 1.6%
D 87.5%
E 62.5%
F 37.5%
Some printers, especially dot matrix printers in multipass modes,
wash out shading because they have a dot size that is large relative
to the dot spacing.
/S024 sets pen 1 to solid, pen 2 to 50%, pen 3..40 to 12.5%
/T - Temporary File Option ------------------------------------------/T[+]f - temporary file - default /TPLOT.TMP
"temp file"
PrintGL uses a temporary file when there is not enough memory to
handle a plotfile. You can use /T to put it on a RAM disk for extra
speed. You can force the use of a temporary file with + ( if the
plot fills the buffer). Using a RAM disk may speed printing.
/W - Pen Width Option -----------------------------------------------/Wc.. - pen widths - default /WA
"pen width"
"pen all"
The W option assigns pen line widths. Each width may be 0..9, .10 ..
.24 dots, A..I for 2..10 units of 4/1016 inch (.1 mm), M for 4/1016
inch (.1 mm), or N to turn off the pen. A..I and M widths are
approximations, based on the device technology. Odd widths of 9 or
above are modified to the next higher (even) width. Unassigned pens
use the last assigned width.
For nonsquare matrix printers, PrintGL uses pen points optimized for
an h/v ratio of .67, 1, or 1.5. Widths are figured in the direction
of higher resolution, and are not accurate in the other direction.
Line widths of over eight dots are distorted at the print window
edge to fit within the four dot border.
/WA
sets pens 1..40 to .2 mm
/WB2.16 sets pen 1 to .3 mm, pen 2 to 2 dots, pens 3..40 to 16 dots
p-23
/X - PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W User Interface Option ------------------/X[C][P][S][F][U][M][Z] - interface options - default /X
"other" "pause to load paper: "
"other" "unsupported command messages: "
The X option sets various interface options. C causes a break when a
plot is clipped. P causes a pause before each printed page.
S suppresses location and size messages. F suppresses location,
size, file name, and page number messages. U suppresses unsupported
command and incorrect number messages.
M prevents PrintGL from allocating DOS upper memory blocks.
Z turns off the shareware notice panel.
/XS gives only the most important messages
/X - PrintCAD Control Option ----------------------------------------/XQ - queries PrintCAD installation
/XR - removes PrintCAD if allowed
/X[E|N|X][A][M][L][W][P][S][Z][-|+] - controls PrintCAD's setup
/XQ checks to see if PrintCAD is installed. /XR removes PrintCAD
from memory, if allowed. /XQ and /XR disallow all other options.
The other suboptions control setup, and are effective only for
initial setup. X specifies XMS for swapping - this is the default. E
forces the use of EMS for swapping instead of XMS. N inhibits
swapping. This forces the entire program to load in low memory and
it will take a large chunk of DOS memory. In return, all of the
compatibility problems of swapping TSRs are removed. This can be
very useful with DOS extender based CAD programs.
A sets an alternate handle (use with PC-Draft-CAD, Drafix, and
DesignCAD). M sets an alternate mouse handler. These suboptions may
improve compatibility.
L forces PrintCAD to load its resident part low. W forces PrintCAD
to load its swapping work area low. P causes program prefix segment
checking. These suboptions may improve compatibility in unusual
situations, but are generally not needed and may make things worse.
+ or - increases or decreases the PrintCAD memory space, for
improved speed or reduced resource usage.
S adds progress beeps. This is not advised with the N suboption.
Z turns off the shareware notice panel.
/XM sets up PrintCAD with its alternate mouse handler
p-24
/Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option -----------------------/Y[D|Y][S|E][A] - D/Y and S/E setting, ADI handler - default /YDS
"other" "D/Y switch position: "
"other" "S/E switch position: "
"other" "interpret ADI commands: "
The Y option sets the plotter's D/Y switch to D or Y and the S/E
switch to S or E. Y starts with the plotter off and responds to
esc.(, esc.Y, esc.), and esc.Z commands. D starts with the plotter
on and ignores these commands. S sets the standard interpretation of
IW (clipping window) commands. E sets 7550 enhanced interpretation
of IW commands, so that they use scaled coordinates.
The A suboption turns on PrintGL's ADI handler. In this mode
Autodesk ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands are interpreted
(along with HP-GL). The ADI plotfile should be created at 1016
steps/inch with up to forty pens and up to eight non-solid line
types. This is not needed when you specify /PADI in PrintCAD.
/YD puts the YD switch in the usual D position
/Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option ---------------------------/Z[i,j][E] - default, min chord angle, enhance font - default /Z10,5
"other" "default, min chord angle: "
"other" "enhanced font: "
This option is not useful with any HP-GL (including AutoCAD's HP-GL)
that draws circles, arcs, and text as line segments rather than
using HP-GL circle, arc, and label commands. It is also not useful
with ADI data.
The Z option specifies the default and minimum chord angles for
circles and arcs. The HP 7475 defaults to a chord angle of 5 with no
minimum. Using chord angles of less than 10 returns little print
quality improvement and adds to processing time. The default is
/Z10,5. For better emulation use /Z5,2.
The E suboption says to use the enhanced font, which doubles the
number of chords on curves in text, improving the curve smoothness.
This is only effective on character heights above .5 cm.
/Z5,2 sets the default chord angle to 5 degrees, the minimum to 2
p-25
PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W Menu ----------------------------------------PrintGL/D and PrintGL/W include a menu interface to let you select
options, choose a list of plotfiles, and print. Run PRINTGLD or
PRINTGLW with no command line parameters to bring up the menu.
The main menu is displayed at the top of the screen, and the bottom
of the screen is used differently for each main menu options. The
main menu is divided by column into six groups. Each group is
described below. The detailed function of the PrintGL options is
described above.
When the cursor is on a main menu item, the current value of the
option is displayed in bottom of the screen. To change the value,
press Enter. The options are modified with cursor movement and
typing numbers/names. The Enter key returns you to the main menu
with the new option values. Esc returns you to the main menu with
the option values unchanged.
If one of the first two letters of a main menu item is capitalized,
that item may be accessed immediately by pressing the letter.
When a cursor bar has a notch, the value in the notch may be edited.
Menu Specific Functions ---------------------------------------------The first column of main menu options is dedicated to menu functions
that are not relevant to command line operation. These include run
PrintGL, switch to an alternate configuration, exit, save the
configurations, set menu options, and create a BAT file
corresponding to the current configuration.
The "Alt config" item rotates between five menu configurations. The
current configuration name is in the upper left corner.
The "save configs" item saves all of the current menu configurations
by writing them into the EXE file. The plotfile list is not saved.
For DOS 2, to find the EXE file, PrintGL looks in the current
directory and then searches the DOS PATH, writing to the first
PRINTGLD.EXE that it finds. Only for DOS 3 and later you can create
multiple EXE files with different names and each can have its own
configurations.
The "menu options" item lets you set the configuration name, screen
colors, up to five initial plotfile masks, and the name of the BAT
file created by the "create BAT" option. Screen colors are specified
with the mnemonics listed here:
k
b
g
c
black
blue
green
cyan
r
m
y
w
red
magenta
yellow/brown
white
k+
b+
g+
c+
gray
bright blue
bright green
bright cyan
r+
m+
y+
w+
bright
bright
bright
bright
red
magenta
yellow
white
For PrintGL/W you can also use - and * as color modifiers. These are
only effective with 15, 16, or 24 bit color setups. To use the
default Windows colors with PrintGL/W, blank out the desired line of
colors.
p-26
"create BAT" creates a single configuration BAT file for PrintCAD.
You will have to add any /X or /P options that you need and deal
with multiple configurations is desired.
Menu Input and Output Choices ---------------------------------------Column two of the main menu lets you choose the plotfiles to plot
(the /P command line option), the plot page number (/N), the output
destination (/D), output format (/F), and modifications to the
output - compression mode (/F), horizontal and vertical size
multiplier (/F) and prefix and suffix printer codes (/J, /K).
You may enter up to 99 plotfiles in the "plotfile" main menu option.
To choose from a list of files, enter a mask name and press Enter
(the cursor must be on the mask). The menu will then display a list
of corresponding files. Select any number of the files by moving the
cursor to the desired file and pressing Space (or the right mouse
button). If no files have been selected, then pressing Enter selects
the file under the cursor. The selected files are added to the file
list at or below the cursor. Files that would overflow the 99th
position on the plotfile list are dropped.
When you "Run PrintGL", PrintGL is run for each file on the plotfile
list. Masks are ignored. For any plotfiles that are not successfully
processed, an arrow is inserted in front of the plotfile name. You
can view the results from the "plotfile" main menu item. The arrow
is not considered part of the file name, so you do not need to
remove it to retry PrintGL.
Printers that support color have a color option ("clr:" on the
menu). This lets you specify a black/white printer even though you
may have set up colors with the "pen color" menu. Output formats
that do not support color do not have this option and always convert
the selected colors to black and white.
Menu Plot Options ---------------------------------------------------The third column of main menu options define how the plot will
appear on the page. The options include magnification (/M), origin
(/O), position (/A), and initial scaling points (/I).
Menu Pen Options ----------------------------------------------------The fourth column of main menu options covers the pen
characteristics: width (/W), color and opaque/transparent mode (/C),
and shade (/S). Each of these menus use the up and down cursor keys
to select a pen, and the left and right cursor keys to choose an
attribute. The "pen all" menu combines the four other menus to let
you see or choose all of pen's attributes at once.
For color selection, the one character colors (b,c,g,k,m,r,w,y)
represent pure colors, and the two character colors are shade
pattern mixes. The shade pattern mixed colors use the current
shading option for that pen, unless the shade pattern is 100%
(solid), in which case 50% is used.
p-27
Menu Page Layout Options --------------------------------------------The fifth column of main menu options covers the page layout. The
first three items are suboptions of the /L option - print window and
margins, form feed, and box. Tiling options (/B) and multiple copies
(/Q) are also here.
Menu Other Options --------------------------------------------------Options that are generally set once and then never touched are in
column six. These include the temporary file name (/T), and under
"other", plotter switch settings (/Y), the default and minimum chord
angle (/Z), internal resolution (/R), and the pause to load paper
and suppress unsupported command messages options (/X).
Large Paper ---------------------------------------------------------PrintGL can handle printing on paper larger than the usual 8.5x11,
but this takes some extra work. First you need to increase PrintGL's
print window to cover the large paper. This is done with the /L
option or "window/margins". The print window plus the margins must
fit within the printer's printable area.
And then you must make sure that your printer recognizes the larger
paper height. For continuous forms paper this is best done by
setting skip perforation to off, either by printer switch or with
PrintGL prefix codes. For Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line
printers (dot matrix, ink jet, thermal) use /J27 79, or "modify
output" "prefix codes: 27 79".
For cut sheet paper, on Canon (except BJ
Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers use /J27
page length in inches. For the PDP ProTracer
is the page length in lines, at six lines per
native mode), Epson,
67 0 n, where n is the
use /J27 67 n, where n
inch.
And for some printers you need to increase the right margin. For the
Canon BJC in Epson mode use /J27 81 114. For the HI V50/100 in
printer mode use /J27 91 88 2 0 1 255.
For page printers, legal size paper may be specified with these
printer code prefixes: HP-PCL printers /J27 38 108 51 65 (/K27 38
108 50 65 to reset to letter), Canon LBP /J27 91 51 50 59 59 112
(/K27 91 51 48 59 59 112 to reset), IBM LaserPrinter /J27 91 70 5 0
3 1 2 1 (/J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 1 to reset).
To get a 10x16 print window on 11x17 paper with a Canon, Epson,
Fujitsu, IBM, or NEC line printer, use these options: /L10 16 0 .25
/J27 67 0 17. You will probably need to adjust the margins (0 .25)
for best centering.
The maximum width of the print window on most narrow carriage
printers is 8 - 8/(horizontal dpi). For 300 dpi printers, this is
7.97. At 120 dpi it is 7.93. The maximum width of the print window
on most wide carriage printers is 13.6 - 8/(horizontal dpi). At 180
dpi this is 13.55. At 360 dpi it is 13.57. The horizontal margin
should be set to 0 to get this width.
p-28
Tips On AutoCAD -----------------------------------------------------There are many ways to use PrintGL with AutoCAD. Here is a good way
to start.
Configure AutoCAD for an HP 7585 plotter. Select output to a file.
Do not do any plotter calibration. Set a specific scale, do not fit.
Do not rotate. Set a plotter window that is larger than you will
ever need, 30x30 for example (this will prevent AutoCAD from
clipping the plot). Set up your plotter pen table so that each
screen color is assigned a different pen.
With PrintGL you can rotate (/O or "origin"), magnify (/M or
"magnification"), assign pens (/C,/S,/W or "pen color", "pen shade",
"pen width"), and calibrate (/F or "modify output" "h,v size
multiplier"). Use /A or "position" "plot center at print window
center" to automatically center your plot in the print window.
To use the AutoCAD 12 plot preview function set the AutoCAD plot
area to match the PrintGL print window with horizontal and vertical
numbers reversed (for an 8x10 print window set a 10x8 plot area).
Answers -------------------------------------------------------------If your plot is messed up, with wraparound lines covering the page,
you have probably exceeded PrintGL's internal coordinate limit. This
happens when the HP-GL coordinates exceed 32 inches. Reduce the
internal resolution with "other" "internal dpi: 762" or /R762 for
coordinates up to 42 inches or /R508 for coordinates up to 64
inches.
If you are having trouble getting the print size or location as
desired, check your /L option or "window/margins". The print window
plus the print margins must define an area that fits in the
printable area of the paper. Printers cannot print over the entire
area of the paper. They usually require .25 to .5 inch margins.
To get color output from PrintGL set up the pens in your graphics
package so that each pen is assigned a color and assign the same
colors to PrintGL's pens with /C or "pen color".
If your prints are coming out not quite to scale, check that no
calibration is being done by the graphics package and then use the
"modify output" "h,v size multiplier:" option or the /F option to
adjust the print size. See /F - Output Format Option for information
on print size correction.
For the Canon BJC-800 in Epson mode, the right margin defaults to 8
inches. Use /J27 64 27 81 114 to set it to 11.4 inches.
For the Canon BJ-330 and most wide carriage printers, the maximum
print window width is 13.57 inches. This is a printer limitation
that you cannot get around.
If your printer ejects the paper before the plot is finished, you
probably need to specify a paper length prefix code. For most line
printers use /J27 67 0 n where n is the page length in inches.
p-29
PrintCAD Answers ----------------------------------------------------To access PrintCAD from a CAD package you must PLOT. Do NOT print.
If you are getting system crashes or nothing from PrintCAD, try the
options /XA, /XM, /XE, and all combinations of these (/XAM, /XAE,
/XME, ...). Try /XN for DOS extender based software. Try /XL, /XW,
and /XLW if none of the above work.
To get color output from PrintCAD, you must:
- Define a multipen plotter in your CAD package.
- Set up the pens in the CAD package so that each color is assigned
to a pen.
- Use the /C option to assign the same colors to PrintCAD's pens.
Plot spoolers are not generally compatible with PrintCAD, and would
be of little value if they were. Print buffers/caches are generally
compatible and useful. You must install the buffer first.
If your prints are coming out not quite to scale:
- For ADI plotters check that the plotter is set to 1016 steps/inch.
- Check that no calibration is being done by the CAD package.
- See /F - Output Format Option for print size correction.
Color Processing ----------------------------------------------------Color graphics devices use a variety of color technologies. PrintGL
supports these basic types.
CMY or cyan/magenta/yellow is used by inkjet printers with no black
ink. This uses three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
CMYK or cyan/magenta/yellow/black is used by inkjet and dot matrix
printers. This uses four color planes and gives eight pure colors.
Using black ink instead of a cyan/magenta/yellow mix gives a more
neutral black color.
RGB or red/green/blue is used by displays and bit maps. This uses
three color planes and gives eight pure colors.
RGBI or red/green/blue/intensity is used by displays and bit maps.
This uses four color planes. All simple colors except black are
intense. When you specify any color mixed with black at shade 0,
then instead of mixing the colors at 50%, the intensity is turned
off. This gives fifteen pure colors.
CMYK and RGBI are used by default when they are appropriate. You can
switch to CMY or RGB with the ` suboption of /F. For displays this
gives a better picture of how a printer will handle the colors. For
dot matrix printers it may speed printing by eliminating the use of
the black ribbon.
/FA! (300 dpi color HP-PCL) uses CMY color by default. /FA!`
switches to CMYK color to access true black on the DeskJet 550C.
p-30
Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes --------------------------------------Below, n represents any number 0..255, nA represents any number in
ASCII format (1 becomes 49, 2 becomes 50, 43 becomes 52 51, etc.).
Canon,
Epson,
Fujitsu,
IBM, NEC
dot matrix,
inkjet
Reset
N inch paper
17 inch paper
Right margin n columns
Skip perforation off
Unidirectional printing
27
27
27
27
27
27
64
67
67
81
79
85
HP PCL,
DeskJet,
LaserJet,
PaintJet
Reset
27 69
Portrait mode
27 38 108 48 79
Top margin 0
27 38 108 48 69
Skip perforation off 27 38 108 48 76
11 inch paper
27 38 108 50 65
14 inch paper
27 38 108 51 65
11x17 inch paper
27 38 108 54 65
Manual feed
27 38 108 50 72
N copies
27 38 108 nA 88 (page printers)
HP DJ500C
High quality, slow
No ink depletion
0 n
0 17
n
(not for IBM)
1
27 42 111 49 81
27 42 111 49 68
HP PJXL300 Low quality, fast
27 42 111 45 49 81
HP QJ
HP-PCL mode
DIP switch mode
27 37 65
27 37 64
IBM LP
11 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70
14 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70
14 inch paper, manual, n copies 27 91 70
N copies
27 91 70
Can BJ nat Page length, right margin x 10
Can CaPSL, Reset
27 99
LBP,
11 inch paper
27 91
BJC880
14 inch paper
27 91
Manual feed
27 91
Automatic feed
27 91
Full page memory mode 27 59
N copies
27 91
Cursor to top of page 27 91
51
51
49
48
27
nA
48
5
5
5
5
0
0
0
0
3
3
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
2
2
0
n
n
n
0 n
27 40 103 3 0 n 1 n
48 59 59 112
50 59 59 112
113
113
91 50 38 122
118
100
Diablo mode
ISO mode
27 58
27 59
PostScript N copies
nA 32 88 67
Paper tray n nA 32 88 80
ProTracer
N line paper 27 67 n
HI V50/100 Max margins
27,91,88,2,0,1,255
p-31
Output Devices (Printers) -------------------------------------------Canon BJ and BJC Printers, IBM ExecJet
PrintGL has five basic drivers for Canon BJ and BJC printers and
the IBM ExecJet. /F7 is the IBM mode driver. It works with the
BJ130e, BJ5, BJ10/10e/10ex, BJ20, BJ200/230, BJ300/330, and
ExecJet. /F7+ gives dark print with line to line overlap.
/FJ is the BJ130 mode driver. It works with all Canon BJ printers
in IBM or native mode. The printer is set to 10 pitch text.
/FB is the Epson mode driver. It works with the BJ200/230 and
BJC800/820. Color is supported. /FB+ gives sparse line to line
overlap. For the BJC800/820 the prefix code 27 81 114 sets the
print width to 11.4 inches.
/F& is the native mode driver. It works with the BJ200/230 and
BJC800/820 in any mode. Color is supported. Epson/IBM mode prefix
codes are not compatible and are not needed.
/F@ is the CaPSL mode driver for the BJC880. Color is supported.
Some of these printers have an image density option (DIP switch
and/or front panel switch). Low density eliminates every second
dot. To get the full 360 dpi resolution, use high density.
Canon LBP Printers
/FD works with any Canon LBP printer. If the printer is in Diablo
mode, it is switched to ISO mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one
meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics.
The ! suboption switches to CaPSL 4 data compression. /FD+! is the
best driver for the LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi.
You might need to set up the printer with /J27 59 27 91 50 38 122.
To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K27 58.
Display
When you display a plot, the cursor keys scroll the plot, S cycles
between full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page
scrolling, and Enter or Esc returns to DOS.
PrintCAD cannot drive displays. PrintGL/W can only use the /FV
drivers and it drives the display via Windows graphic functions.
/FC drives a CGA, but does not give color.
The EGA drivers, /FE and /FM, require a 128K or 256K EGA. /FC will
work with a 64K EGA. /FM is for an EGA card with a digital (TTL)
monochrome monitor.
p-32
/FH supports the Hercules monochrome graphics card.
/FV works with any VGA card.
/FV+ requires a system with 800x600 16 color support. By default
/FV+ assumes VESA support. If your VGA card does not support VESA
then add the mode number for 800x600 16 color mode, for example
/FV+$5B. Here are mode numbers for common VGA cards ($ means hex).
ATI $54
Genoa $29
Orchid $6A
Paradise $58
Renaissance $64
Tseng
$29
Trident
$5B
Video Seven $16
/FV* works with VESA 1024x768 mode and /FV^ works with VESA
1280x1024 mode.
For MCGAs, use the VGA driver without color - /FV~.
Display output cannot be redirected to a file (the /D option is
ignored).
Epson, IBM 9 Pin Printers
/FN, /FW, and /F1 cover a wide range of Epson/IBM compatible 9 pin
dot matrix printers. You need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon
to get color prints. The * drivers use 1/240 graphics. /FN+, /FN*,
/FW+, and /FW* use 1/216 indexing and do three vertically
interleaved passes. /F1+ and /F1* use 1/144 indexing and do two
vertically interleaved passes. /FW sets line feeds to 1/6 inch.
For Epson printers and other printers with 1/216 indexing
hardware, /FN is preferred. For some not quite compatible
printers, /FW works. For IBM Proprinters and other printers with
1/144 indexing hardware, /F1 gives better results.
These drivers use the following escape codes:
esc
esc
esc
esc
esc
3
J
L
Z
r
set n/216 line feeds for all /FW
index n/216 (n=2 for 1/144 index) for all /FN and /F1
graphics command for /FN, /FN+, /FW, /FW+, /F1, and /F1+
graphics command for /FN*, /FW*, and /F1*
set ribbon color (only if color is specified)
Epson, Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba 24 Pin Printers
/FT covers
all Epson LQ printers and many compatible printers
(Panasonic in LQ mode and others). /FF works with Fujitsu 24 pin
printers in Fujitsu mode. /F9 works with NEC 24 pin printers. /FO
works with Toshiba 24 pin printers. /FO resets the line feed
distance to 1/6 inch on completion.
For all of these drivers, you need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black
ribbon to get color prints. The + and * drivers use 1/360 graphics
mode, and the * drivers use 1/360 (1/120 for /FO*) indexing and
reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. A clean
paper path with equal tension on each side is needed for good
360x360 graphics.
p-33
Many 24 pin printers are not capable of 360x360 graphics and a few
cannot handle 360x180 graphics.
The compression mode drivers (! suboption or "modify output"
"compression mode: Y") may or may not be an improvement.
The /FT drivers use the following printer escape codes:
esc
esc
esc
esc
esc
esc
esc
$
absolute tab
* ' graphics command for /FT
* ( graphics command for /FT+, /FT*
+
set n/360 indexing for /FT*
2
set 1/6 indexing for /FT*
J
index n/180 for /FT, /FT+
r
set ribbon color (only if color is specified)
HI Jetpro V50/100
You can drive the HI V50/100 as an HP-GL/2 device. Set the
resolution to 360 (/F0 360) and reverse the width and height in
the print window, for example use 10x8 instead of 8x10 for 8.5x11
paper. The maximum print window height is 15.25.
In printer mode the HI V50/100 acts as a Canon BJ IBM mode printer
(/F7). The maximum print width is 15.25 and you need the prefix
code 27,91,88,2,0,1,255 to get beyond 13.6 inches.
HP DeskJet, HP PaintJet XL300, Mannesmann Tally MT92C
/FI works with any black/white DeskJet in portrait mode.
/FA has three modes and covers different levels of 300 dpi color
HP-PCL printers. /FA uses RGB color and works with the DeskJet
500C and Mannesmann Tally MT92C. /FA! uses CMY color which can
speed printing in some cases. This works with the DeskJet 500C,
DeskJet 550C, DeskJet 1200C, and PaintJet XL300. /FA!` uses CMYK
color to give give better blacks only on the DeskJet 550C (the
DeskJet 1200C and PaintJet XL300 convert from CMY to CMYK color
internally).
HP LaserJet
/FL works with any LaserJet compatible printer. /FL! works with LJ
2 (PCL 4) printers. /FI works with LJ 3 (PCL 5) printers. /FI+ is
a 600 dpi driver for the LaserJet 4.
All of these drivers work in portrait mode, which may be set with
/J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69.
LaserJets with under one meg of memory may not be able to handle a
full page of graphics. /FL! uses less printer memory than /FI, so
it may be preferred on LaserJet 3s with limited memory.
p-34
HP PaintJet
/FP drives 180 dpi PaintJet printers. The compression mode driver
(/FP!) uses data transfer mode 2 (instead of 1) and works only
with a PaintJet XL.
Use /FA! (the DeskJet 500C CMY driver) with the PaintJet XL300.
HP QuietJet
/FQ works with QuietJets in HP-PCL mode.
HP-GL and HP-GL/2
/F8 outputs low level HP-GL, converting text, arcs, fill, and
clips to vectors. The output is HP 7220 and HP-GL/2 pen plotter
compatible, containing IN, IP, SC, SP, IW, LT, PA, PU, and PD
commands. PG is used for form feeds. If you specify no form feed
then multiple plots may be appended to the same page.
/F0 drives
plotters.
HP-GL/2 raster devices. Use /F8 for HP-GL/2 pen
You can specify the nominal resolution of HP-GL or HP-GL/2 by
appending it to the /F option (for example /F8 300). When you set
the nominal resolution of HP-GL to other than 1016, enhanced IW
command interpretation (HP 7550 enhanced mode) is needed to handle
dashed lines correctly.
For HP-GL output the width parameter (/W) is used as a pen
selector, so for each pen in the original HP-GL, you can specify a
new pen in the output. The default /W option for /F8 is
/W12345678. Shading and color are ignored.
IBM LaserPrinter
/F4 drives any LaserPrinter in PPDS (native) mode. /FL will work
for HP LaserJet mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer
memory to print a full page of graphics.
The ! suboption or "modify output" "compression mode: Y" switches
to 4029 data compression. /F4+! works with the 4029 with 600 dpi
PPDS upgrade.
IBM 24 Pin Printers
PrintGL has three drivers for Proprinter X24 compatible printers.
Use native mode, not AGM. /F6 is for all IBM X24s and the 24P.
These printers do 1/144 inch indexing and using them at 180 dpi
gives horizontal white streaks every 2/3 inch. The /F6 drivers
compensate for this by indexing 19/144 per line, giving 182 dpi.
To work properly the printer must start on a 1/72 boundary so it
is best to keep line feeds at a multiple of 1/72 (1/6, 1/8, 1/9).
p-35
/F5 is referred to as X24 alternate 1 and is for printers that are
X24 compatible except for 1/180 inch indexing. This is the case
with most X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter
and IBM 2390 and 2391. /F5* works only with printers that do 1/360
indexing, including the 2390 and 2391 but not the Quickwriter.
/FX is referred to as X24 alternate 2 and is the same as /F5
except for the vertical units command. /FX works with Panasonic
printers in X24 mode.
The compression mode drivers (! suboption or "modify output"
"compression mode: Y") may or may not be an improvement.
IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3
/F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Line feeds are set to
1/6 inch on completion.
JRL J bubblejet
/F# drives the JRL J bubblejet in Epson LQ mode.
Kodak Diconix Color 4
/FK drives the Color 4.
Pacific Data Products ProTracer
/FG drives the ProTracer (base model) in IBM Proprinter mode. The
maximum print window width is 14.97.
PostScript Output
/FS outputs printable Encapsulated PostScript with no preview bit
map. Text, arcs, fill, and clips are converted to vectors, so
PrintGL is not a general purpose HP-GL to PostScript converter. If
no form feed is specified then "showpage" is not output, and more
PostScript may be appended to the page. PostScript overwrites as
it draws, so overlapping lines appear opaque.
You can specify the nominal resolution of the PostScript by
appending it to the /F option (for example /FS 300).
You can specify the number of copies with a prefix code that
includes the number of copies followed by " XC". For example /J 50
32 88 67 makes 2 (ASCII 050) copies. You can specify the paper
tray with the XP macro.
p-36
/FY (not included in PrintCAD) appends a black/white TIFF preview
bit map to a PostScript file. To use it, create a PostScript file
with PrintGL and then run PrintGL again, specifying the same
options except /FY instead of /FS. The destination file is
appended by default. /FY assumes a PostScript file, generated by
PrintGL, is being appended. You may set the resolution - the
default is 72x72 dpi. Here is an example:
PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FS
PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FY
Tektronix ColorQuick
/FR drives the ColorQuick.
ZSoft PCX Bit Map
/FZ gives ZSoft PCX bit map output. The format used by PrintGL is
described below. For multiple page plots and tiled plots use a
three digit number for the output file (/D option) so that a new
(sequentially numbered) file will be created for each page.
The file starts with a header composed of 128 byte values:
10,2,1,1,0,0,0,0,
max_x,max_y,
dpi_x,dpi_y,
0,0,0,
0,0,192, 0,192,0, 0,192,192,
192,0,0,192,0,192,192,192,0,192,192,192,
0,0,0,
0,0,254, 0,254,0, 0,254,254,
254,0,0,254,0,254,254,254,0,254,254,254,
0,
color_planes,
width
1,0,..,0
2 bytes each, in dots
2 bytes each
color palette
1, 3, or 4
2 bytes, in bytes
The scan lines follow, in top to bottom order. For color plots,
each complete scan line consists of a blue, green, red, and
intensity scan line. The intensity line is not included for /FZ`.
1 is the background and 0 the foreground for b/w files. 1,1,1,1 is
the background for color files, with 0 representing the absence of
blue, green, red, or intensity. The bit usage is reversed with /LR
or "reverse image" . Each scan line is composed of these data
commands ($ means hex):
$00..$BF
- 1 byte of bit mapped data ($00..$BF)
$C1 $C0..$FF
- 1 byte of bit mapped data ($C0..$FF)
$C2..$FF $00..$FF - 2..63 bytes of repeated bit mapped data
The width and height of the bit map are specified by the /L or
"window/margins" option plus eight dots. The width is extended to
a multiple of sixteen.
p-37
HP-GL and ADI Commands ----------------------------------------------PrintGL supports the 7475 and 7440/17440 command sets except for
character set 8 (Katakana), digitize commands, output commands, the
error mask command, and some device control commands. In addition,
PG, AF, ES, LO, character set 5, line types 7 and 8, and
proportional spaced fonts are supported. And forty pens are allowed
instead of eight.
With /YA or "other" "interpret ADI commands: Y" set, PrintGL
supports ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands. The file is assumed
to have a resolution of 1016 dpi. Forty pens and eight line types
(other than solid) are allowed.
HPGL.DOC and HPGL.CHR include details of HP-GL, ADI, and PrintGL's
interpretation. The 7550 manual is a good reference for HP-GL - HP
manual 07550-90001.
Compatibility and Technical Information -----------------------------PrintGL/D will run on any IBM compatible system with MS-DOS 2.0 or
above. MS-DOS 3.3 or later is recommended. It requires up to 256K of
free memory. More memory may speed printing.
The PrintGL/D menu can use any text or graphics display mode that
allows at least 80 columns and 25 lines of text. In text modes
PrintGL/D writes directly to the display buffer, and in graphics
modes BIOS is used to display text.
PRINTGLD.EXE should not be compressed with EXE file compressors
because it rewrites the EXE file when saving its configurations.
PrintGL/W is an MS Windows 3.1 program. It uses its own printer
drivers, not Windows printer drivers.
PrintCAD will run on any IBM/DOS computer with MS-DOS 2.0 or above
with 400K of EMS or XMS memory and a base memory region of 512K.
Because it is a swapping resident program, it may have problems in
some environments. PrintCAD can handle VCPI (Virtual Control Program
Interface) based DOS extenders, but DPMI based programs and stand
alone DOS extenders may cause problems.
When using a DOS extender based program such as AutoCAD 386 or
Microstation 4, use an extended/expanded memory manager that
provides VCPI, such as MS-DOS 5 EMM386/HIMEM, QEMM 386, or 386MAX.
PrintGL was written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with Borland's Turbo
Pascal 7.0 and Turbo Assembler 2.0.
p-38
User Support --------------------------------------------------------Correspondence about this program may be sent via the support
bulletin board, fax, Compuserve, or mail.
BBS:
606-268-0577 1200..14400,N,8,1 24 hours/day
To ask a question, prepare an ASCII text file with the details of
your question. Then call the bulletin board and choose the upload
question option. XMODEM file transfer protocol is required for
this. Your question will be assigned a number (such as 1015) remember this number. An answer file (with the assigned number)
will be posted, usually within 24 hours on weekdays. To get an
answer, call the bulletin board, choose the download option, then
the answer option, and then enter the answer number.
Compuserve: Cary Ravitz [70431,32]
Fax:
606-268-0577
If your fax machine does not send the fax calling signal, the BBS
will answer and hang up (about 30 seconds), then the call is
routed to the fax. Faxes from outside the USA may be answered via
letter. The fax may be unavailable sometimes.
Mail:
Ravitz Software Inc.
P.O. Box 25068
Lexington, KY 40524-5068
USA